The streets of Guanajuato come alive for the Cervantino Festival.

A Feast of Open-Air Art in Colonial Mexico

A buzzing cultural hub at the best of times, the immaculately preserved colonial city of Guanajuato, in Mexico’s Colonial Highlands, takes things even further every October.

For 18 days each year, the city hosts one of the world’s most exciting and enjoyable cultural festivals—the Cervantino. It feels as if the whole city is an open-air theater, with street performers from all over the world taking to the cobblestone lanes and leafy plazas.

This really is a global event, with Europe, Asia and the Americas well represented among the acts and the visitors. Offerings cover the whole gambit of the arts, and you don’t have to like dance, opera or theater to enjoy the festival. You’ll find everything from mad poets to puppet shows amid what is Mexico’s most spectacular cultural feast.

There are exhibitions of art; modern, classic and avant garde…opera and theater in the magnificent Theatro Juarez and salsa and local folkloric music in the cantinas and bars. The sides of 400-year-old churches become movie screens, bars heave with dancing revelers and a carnival atmosphere pervades well into the night.

Guanajuato is a university town and the birthplace of artist Diego Riviera. This year’s festival takes place from October 12 to 30. More details here.

Into Panama Like a VIP

Next time you jet down to Panama City, arrange in advance for a VIP reception. For a small fee, officials will usher you through the airport like you’re a diplomat.

A multilingual executive will whisk you through immigration, baggage collection and customs and give you access to the VIP waiting area, where you can enjoy free drinks and snacks. And you can arrange for the same treatment on your way out, too. VIP clients go straight to the head of the check-in line and are then escorted to the VIP waiting area. From there, it’s through immigration via the diplomatic lane and to the front of the boarding line.

Booked separately, the arrival service is $50, departure $40. But when you arrange the arrival service, you can add the departure for just $30. Any passengers traveling with you pay only $30 either way. More information here.

No to “Naked” Scanners

Many travelers were horrified when they found out that airport body scanners allowed airport staff to effectively see through the clothing of passengers as they pass through security…

Happily, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) says it is going to change the system to make it less intrusive. Disgruntled passengers complained about how the system, which takes full body X-ray images that show passengers’ genitals, was invasive and demeaning. A number went as far as taking legal action.

Now authorities have announced plans for a new system that eliminates “passenger-specific images.” Once altered, the machines “will auto-detect items that could pose a potential threat using a generic outline of a person” the agency said. At the moment, any passengers who refuse to brave the naked scanner can instead opt for a pat down by security staff.

Unfinished Art in Florence

Florentines are set to hit the polls in a vote to decide whether an ambitious work of the Italian master, Michelangelo, should now be finished. Lack of funds brought the project at the city’s San Lorenzo Basilica to a halt 496 years ago.

Plans drawn up by the artist called for a white marble façade for the church with columns and statues. But when Pope Leo X heard how much it would cost to transport the tons of white marble needed the project was called off.

And so the façade of the church, which houses the chapel of the city’s great patrons, the Medicis, has never been completed. But now the mayor of Florence has called for a referendum to decide whether the job should be finished.

Money Back on Lost Bag

What is surely one of the greatest injustices in the world of travel has just been undone—since August 23 new rules mean you’re now entitled to a refund of your checked-baggage fee if an airline loses your bag.

Checked-baggage fees, which range from around $15 to $45 for the first bag, have become a serious money spinner for airlines, generating some $3.4 billion for U.S. carriers last year. Airlines, which are already obliged to compensate you for luggage that goes astray, say they are not expecting the new stipulation to cause any major issues as just four out of every 1,000 passengers report baggage lost, delayed or damaged.

But there are already concerns that the airlines will attempt to side-step the new rules. The rules don’t force airlines to reimburse baggage fees for delayed luggage—and they leave it up to the airlines to determine when a bag has been lost rather than delayed.

However, the U.S. Transportation Department warns that it could impose fines on airlines which don’t resolve lost baggage claims in a timely fashion.

Editor’s Note: This article was taken from a past issue of International Living’s monthly magazine. To get full access to all past and future articles and to receive the magazine in the mail or online each month, you can subscribe here.

Read more articles from our sample issue here.